


Henry Goes Into The Studio And This Kid-A Teen, Actually-Follows Him

by ThatOneNightmare



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Gen, I'll add more tags as this goes on bc i got no plot, Mostly canon tho, Reader is kinda an oc sorry, also curious as heck this reader is, also named so yeah, also reader has the tendency to kinda, bc reader is there, hoard things they like, just a lil divergent, y'all will see what I mean in later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-05-01 21:12:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14529282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneNightmare/pseuds/ThatOneNightmare
Summary: [For a lack of better title.]Sometimes, Noel is a little too curious. They follow the wrong person, snoop in the wrong places, and peek at the wrong times. But they've always turned out fine, if not a little more informed than before. But this time, they're in way over their head.And the ink is only rising higher.





	1. An Older Song

"Oh, nice!" The teen hummed, tapping a foot to the song that echoed out the radio.

Noel had wandered in not too long after the man they'd been following. When they first heard the stranger ask about a "Sillyvision Studios," the teen couldn't help but be curious. So they trailed the guy through town, until they got to the studio. Originally, they'd hesitated due to the rumors that floated around the place, like a bad stench. But now they were in here?

Noel could definitely say it was a lot nicer-looking than they thought. 

With a click, the music stopped, snapping the teen out of their thoughts. Eyeing the machine, they gave a shrug, before simply picking it up and putting it into their backpack. 'Not like anyone would use it anyways.' They reasoned, opening the door in the little office they were in.

A small wave of ink washed over their boots, and Noel quietly cursed as they tried to shake it off. Taking large steps over the ink, -That seemed to be rising rather quickly too,- the teen wriggled to adjust their backpack. Noise other than the rushing ink caught their attention, the sound of somebody running echoing off the walls. Peeking out, Noel noticed the man they'd followed in, who in turn noticed the teen, and looked fairly shocked. Taking a glance over his shoulder, the shock was replaced with worry, and he grabbed Noel's wrist and tugged them along.

Nearly yanked off balance, Noel glanced back to see what had the man speeding up so much. There was a veritable _wall_ of ink behind the two, and an encroaching darkness heralding its coming. Noel really didn't want to get caught up in something like that, so they simply ran faster behind the older man. It didn't take much more than a half a minute, and soon they reached the beginning of the studio. It almost felt like they were being herded, the teen vaguely noted, with other exits being blocked off by falling boards and a waterfall of ink. Still, the two kept running. A corner was turned, and finally the exit was in sight. Noel almost wanted to stop and cheer, but that could wait.

Then the floor collapsed, and they  
f  
e  
l  
l

Hitting the floor with a squelch, Noel quickly scrambled up to keep from accidentally inhaling any of the hip-high ink. Coughing, the teen barely noticed the man scrambling to turn some sort of valve as the ink rose. Right as the ink came to their waist it began draining off elsewhere. Letting out a relieved sigh, Noel looked up to see the man looking at them curiously.

"What's a kid like you doing in here?" The teen raised an eyebrow at the question, mildly insulted by the implication that they were a child.

"Could ask you the same, old man." He chuckled quietly, but waited for them to continue, ".....I was following you. For curiosity's sake." Noel finished sheepishly.

Shaking his head, the man sighed and replied: "Might as well tell you why I'm here, if that's really the reason you followed me this far." Seeing that the teen was listening, he gave another small chuckle.

"A couple a days ago, I got a letter from my former co-worker, and friend, Joey." Noel noticed how the man slumped a little, but didn't interrupt. "Now the last time we saw each other, we had what you could call a falling out, if you wanted to be real polite about it. Thirty years later, and you can imagine my surprise when I got a note inviting me back here." He finished, now scowling.

"Huh. I can admit to not expecting something like that." They said, slightly nodding, until a surprised expression crossed their face. "I just realized, we haven't introduced ourselves! I'm Noel, an' you are?"

"Ah, well, I'm Henry. Nice t' meet you kid." He replied, only grinning in response to the dry look sent his way. "Greetings aside, we do need to get out of this place. I wasn't quite sure in coming here, and that whole thing definitely wasn't reassuring."

"You're right, I gotta be home in time for dinner! My pa's gonna freak if I'm late." Noel worried, looking around the room.

Noting a doorway, they took a moment to peek out before groaning quietly. Looking back towards Henry, they saw him listening to a tape, with a contemplative frown. Deciding not to ask, they caught his attention with a "Hey mister!" And waved a hand at the doorway. Walking through, Noel glanced at the danger sign, before shrugging and splashing down the stairwell. Remembering what they'd seen Henry doing in the first room, the teen jumped onto the pipe and turned the valve, simply hanging on as the ink drained. Once the floor was clear, Noel jumped down, glanced at said man, and shrugged. Henry was struggling to keep his composure, but small snickers escaped here and there as the man led the way to the next room.

Waiting at the edge of the ink-filled room, Noel watched Henry simply wade his way through to the next valve, only coming down once it was clear. Opening up the door, the teen let out a relieved sigh and walked in, plopping on the floor in the middle of the room. 

"Don't like the ink very much, do you?" He commented with a wry smile.

Dumping out a boot, the teen just gave Henry a flat stare before repeating the process. Not minding the lack of response, the man eyed the boarded up doorway before taking the axe that lay on the table. 

'Crack!'

The sudden noise nearly startled Noel into dropping their boot, and they watched in mild shock as Henry went to town on those boards. Judging by the noises that echoed from the now unblocked doorway, it seems there were more. Staring in a little awe, the teen decided to wait until the man was done. A minute passed, and they weren't hearing any more boards breaking. Pulling on the other boot, Noel strolled through the hallways, avoiding the broken boards as they went. They did speed up upon hearing a familiar-sounding 'thump', and quickly entered the room, only to see Henry laying passed out on a pentagram.

Sputtering as they tried to comprehend what they were seeing, Noel made to try and pull the man from the circle, but paused when they heard him groan.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Noel can really say is that there is _way_ too much ink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was getting a bit long, so I split the chapter 2 chapter..... into 2! lol.  
> (Edit: Made some minor edits)

Kneeling down outside the circle, the teen grimaced upon hearing his question.

"You passed out in a pentagram. You alright? Not possessed or enthralled or anything, are you?" Noel asked, looking happier when Henry shook his head, "Cool. I guess we should keep movin', unless you need a moment?"

The man only shook his head once more, before standing up with a soft groan. Ignoring his companion's worried look, Henry grabbed the axe that had fallen off to the side. Noel eyed the other door, which of course was boarded up as well. Waving a hand in its direction, the teen looked at Henry and said: "Your move, mister."

Strolling over, he took out the boards with a loud 'thwack!' and pushed open the door. Following him down the hallway, Henry and Noel both frowned at the inky writing on the wall up ahead. It was rather eerie, especially with how the candles flickered, casting ever-moving shadows. Just as they passed into the next room, Noel paused as a thought hit them.

"Who..... Who lit those candles? I mean, this place looked abandoned, but those candles on the other hand...." The teen trailed off, not liking what could be implied.

Nervously glancing at Noel, Henry was about reply when another tape. Clicking on it, the man visibly brightened up, but grimaced after the first few lines. Listening, the two were more than a bit unnerved by its contents. With the last line, all Noel could answer was: "No. No you can't."

"I said-" Noel backed up, bumping into the desk, while Henry aimed his axe somewhere, "-Can I get an amen."

All was silent, both too shocked by the unknown voice to say anything. After a few moment, the teen let out a loud "No." There wasn't an answer this time. A few more moments passed, and Henry quickly left the room, Noel following close behind. Down a hallway, the duo turned right, both steadfastly ignoring the cutout in front of yet another pentagram. Spotting the ink-flooded hallway over Henry's shoulder, Noel grimaced.

"Gimme a moment." They called out, pulling off both their boots before wading out towards Henry.

Once the teen caught up, they began going through the ink once more. Spotting someone-strangely, holding a Bendy cutout under their arm-, he called out, "Hello, excuse us! Can you help us!" but the person kept walking, and the duo could hear them whispering to themself.

"...Hello?" Henry tried once more, but the stranger was gone.

Out of the inky hallway, the duo could only stare at the wall, a cutout in front of a pentagram the only thing there. Noel squinted, and poked the cutout's cheek.

"What the hell." They announced, wincing as they remembered the adult in the room.

"Eh, appropriate situation." Henry shrugged, walking to a gate and inspecting the control board.

"We'll need to get power to this gate. There's probably a couple of switches around to open it." He said, walking back over to the teen, who had gone back to poking the cutout.

"I think I saw one back at that other room, and there's one right here too. Think those are it?" They asked looking away from said cutout.

"I suppose." He replied eyeing the cans in front of the switch, "I think we'll have to eat these, and get them out of the way."

Noel gave him an incredulous look. "Or..... We could move them and save them for later..." They slowly replied moving the soup cans out out the way and sticking a few in their backpack.

"That's also an option. A very good one." Henry nodded sheepishly.

Turning sharply to hide his embarrassment, he began wading down the flooded hall. Not hearing anyone behind him, he turned and looked at the teen curiously. "I'm staying here. No more wading than I can help." Was the answer. Nodding, the man set off, soon rounding a corner out of sight. Wringing out their socks, Noel slipped their boots back on and went back to inspecting the cutout.

"Why are these so big anyways?"

Hearing a slight thrum, the teen grinned and faced expectantly towards the hallway. Soon enough, Henry came wading through the ink, and back onto dry wood. They quickly scurried over to the control board's switch and flipped before the man even finished shaking off the ink. Chuckling quietly at their antics, Henry and Noel patiently waited for the gate to open. It revealed...!

Yet another board covered doorway.

"What a grand prize that was..." The teen grumbled sourly, waiting for Henry to axe off aforementioned boards.

Squinting, the duo crept into the dark room, hands out against the wall. Noel felt something a pushed it. With a click, a new tape began playing. Once it finished, all Henry could say was: "That sounds more like the Sammy I know. That other tape didn't really sound like the old music director."

They only hummed in response, noting the man moving into a doorway. Following him, Noel heard him say. "We'll need to find a way to drain this."

Frowning at the flooded stairwell, Noel hit a switch off to the side and heard the lights turn on. Grinning, they strolled back into the previous room. Here a strange splashing noise, the teen turned to see some sort of ink monster land in front of them. Staring at the thing, Noel shrieked as it began crawling towards them, and landed a solid kick to its face. Henry came rushing out, ready to ask what was wrong, but was instead distracted with yet another ink monster.

"No ya' don't!" The teen yelled, finally kicking down the monster.

Whirling around, they noticed another monster take a swipe at Henry while he was dealing with another one. Cursing under their breath as the man stumbled, Noel quickly ran over and stomped the thing into the floorboards, it turning into a puddle under their boot. Finishing the one he was being attacked by off, Henry gave them a grateful nod, and groaned. 

Breathing heavily, Noel soon perked up at the sound of some music beginning to play. Following the noise, they paused in front of the bubbling puddles those strange ink monsters had disappeared into. Thankfully nothing more happened, they stepped over it. Approaching the gramophone, the teen couldn't help but smile at the jaunty tune.

Carefully picking it up as to not disturb the record, Noel approached Henry with a grin. Setting it down next to him, then sitting down themself, the two listened to the record skip as they rested.

"...This sounds like one of Sammy's." The man mumbled, reaching forwards to reset the track.

One more play of the music passed before Henry began heaving himself up. "Time to continue on." He said, a reply to Noel's silent question. Nodding, the teen stood up with much less trouble than Henry, and followed him into a new room.

"Huh, pool. Wish I knew how to play." They remarked, peeking over the man's shoulder.

Spotting the music stands, their eyes lit up and Noel edged around Henry with a small "Excuse me." Taking on of the note sheets and placing it onto another stand, they picked it up carefully. Satisfied, Noel walked back towards Henry with the empty stand in hand.

Tilting his head in curiosity, the man asked: "Why...? Why do you need a music stand?"

"Just in case we see more of those murderous ink things. Kicking's all well and good but," They paused, "Best to be prepared, I suppose."

With a quiet "Ah." of understanding, Henry continued walking through the room, Noel not far behind. Turning down a new hallway, -the teen pausing to smear some of those bubbling ink puddles into the ground,- the two found themselves with several options. Shrugging, the man went left, while Noel stayed behind, and saw a flooded stairwell labeled 'Infirmary'.

"Guess we'll go straight then." He commented, the teen nodding and pushing open the door to the right.

It opened with a squeal, revealing an organ. Brimming with excitement, Noel rushed forwards and began playing with the keys. After a few minutes of aimless key pressing, and pained groan sounded out, causing both of them to stare at the organ pipes with wide eyes.

"U-uh.... Sorry..... Sorry mista'....." The teen apologized, creeping backwards and slowly shutting the door.

Swapping a look with Henry, the two began walking down the hall warily. Pushing open another door to the right, Noel peeked in, only to see two desk, and some other items. Grabbing the soup, they shrugged at Henry and continued on. Reaching the end of the hallway, the duo stared at the pouring ink in surprise.

"That is certainly a leak alright.."

"Hella."

Edging along the ink pool, Henry clicked the tape while Noel tried the door on the drier side. Finding it locked, they scowled and joined Henry in listening to the tape. Chuckling at the final line, the teen tilted their head and said: "Maybe these keys will be useful or something? I mean this guy seems to bee a janitor, and I know they tend to have lots of keys."

Mulling on the thought, Henry nodded and stepped out of the ink. Chuckling a bit louder at the squelching noises of Henry's shoes, they began trailing him as he checked into different areas. Taking a moment to regards the glowing 'Recording' sign, Henry shrugged off the thought and opened the door. Smiling at the sight of the recording studio, the man took a moment to look around the room. As he remembered fond memories, Noel cautiously walked up to the piano.

"Hope there's nobody behind this..." They mumbled, carefully pressing a few keys.

When there wasn't a single groan, the teen lit up once more and played a simple version of the classic, 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'. It took a few tries, but eventually they got it right. Deciding to mix things up a bit, the teen played the song once more, but instead added more notes. A few minutes later, they decided to stop messing with the piano.

A quiet clapping broke the room's silence, and Noel jolted and turned towards Henry. Smiling sheepishly, they took a shallow bow.

"Wow kiddo, where'd you learn to play? That was pretty good!" The man question, smiling at his younger companion.

"I mostly taught myself by ear." Noel answered quietly, still a bit shocked from forgetting Henry was with them.

"That was real good for being self-taught. You could consider more formal training for that, not many people have the ears for the notes." He stated.

"Nah," The teen waved him off, "I already have my eye on something else. Besides, I don't even remember how to read the notes!" Noel finished with a slight laugh.

With a hum of acknowledgement, the man dropped the conversation there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm So what do y'all think? Once again, a bit of a cliffhanger, and more dialogue, but did I do good one the action scene? Considering I've never wrote once before, I think I did alright. Also this is 1814 words, which, if rounded to the nearest thousand, is nearly double the previous chapter! Which I find amazing, as normally I barely get over 800 words.
> 
> My tumblr is @kindajustctoons If you wanna yell into my inbox-
> 
> Please do, I make gifs sometimes


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow! This one really fought ne, and we haven't even reached ch. 3 yet!!!

With a hum of acknowledgement, the man dropped the conversation there. Passing by them, Henry picked up the tape next to the piano and clicked it on. Noticing the man's raised eyebrows, Noel realized it was someone he didn't know.

"Huh." They said once the tape was finished, "She sounds nice, but seems.... kinda pretentious? Just a bit."

Shrugging, Henry roamed around the room a bit, Noel watching him curiously from their spot over by the piano. Eventually, he nodded at them before strolling out the door, the teen muttering a quiet "A'ight." and getting up to follow him. Walking back into the main room, the man climbed the stairs into a new room, the teen close behind. While Henry went straight for the tape that laid on the desk, Noel poked at the projector that was sitting on the ledge, which then clicked on.

Flinching in surprise, Noel squinted at the projector, before taking a look at the cartoon it played. Pulling up the chair, the teen sat down, and watched the little demon's show play. They heard a small jingle, but were too curious about the cartoon to bother looking.

"That must be one of the newer ones." 

Looking at Henry, the teen tilted her head, noticing the sad look in his eyes. The man didn't respond to their silent inquiry, but only sighed before walking back down the stairs. Noel shadowed him back down the hall towards Sammy's office, and Henry used the keys to unlock the door they tried opening earlier. Inside was a new tape, and more bacon soup. Stashing some of the cans in their backpack, the teen joined Henry in listening to the tape.

"I suppose his 'Sanctuary'," They made quotation marks with their fingers, "might have something to help us?" They finished, wondering aloud.

"I guess so. You turn on the projector, and I'll take care of the instruments." Henry replied, turning and walking back down the hall.

"Wait what? Why?!"

"Heard it in a tape!" He called back, before disappearing into the recording studio's doorway. 

Mumbling about how weird it was, Noel decided to follow the man's directions, walking back up the stairs to the projector's room. Seeing Henry give them a thumbs up, the teen poked at the projector once more, then watched as he scurried from instrument to instrument. A quiet 'click' caught their attention, and Noel gave a quiet "Huh." as they watched a gate open. Nodding, they waved to get Henry's attention.

Once he came close enough, the teen yelled "Catch!" before gently tossing their backpack over the railing. When they were sure Henry had caught it, they not-so-gently tossed the music stand they held over the railing too. Ignoring the clanging noise, and Henry's worried "Hey! No don't-!", Noel climbed right over the railing. Turning to get a better grip, the teen let go and carefully dropped onto the barrel below them. Grinning widely, they took a shallow bow before stepping onto the chair beside the barrel, then the floor. 

"Please, never again," Henry chastised, "You almost gave me a heart attack!" He finished, handing back Noel's backpack.

Slinging it back on and reeling from the weight, the teen only laughed in reply. Picking back up their music stand, Noel followed the man into Sammy's sanctuary, which was really more of a storage room. Distracted by the bass instruments, the teen bumped into Henry's back.

"Wha-" They peeked over his shoulder, catching sight of a pipe valve labeled 'Flow', then the giant pentagram in front of it, "Oh. Yikes."

Walking further in, Noel took note of a desk, banjo, and lastly, toilet. Taking a moment to squint at the toilet in confusion, they looked back at Henry. Locking eyes, a minor staring contest ensued.

"Not it."

Sighing, Henry cautiously stepped through the pentagram, and turned the valve. Quickly walking out, the man grimaced and asked: "Did you hear it too?"

At the teen's confused look, Henry simply shook his head and began walking out. Deciding to ask about later, they hung back to give the toilet one more questioning stare. Quickly catching up, both jumped at the sudden cut-out jumpscare, Noel developing a look of 'WTF', and Henry simply giving an amused huff. Back in the recording studio proper, the teen went to look at the cutout, but jumped upon hearing a familiar noise. The monsters were back, only a lot more than before! 

Kicking a chair to distract some, Noel gave a good baseball-swing with the stand and managed to destroy one on the front swing, and another on the back swing. Wincing when they felt something hit them from behind, the teen turned and kicked away the ink monster, giving them-self some breathing room. One more swing, and the monster faded into a puddle. Turning to see if Henry was okay, the teen got a thumbs up. Seeing he was fine, they collapsed into a chair and yelled: "What the HELL!" 

Feeling better, Noel opened up their eyes, then immediately said: "The heck?"

Looking tilting his head, Henry glanced in the direction they were looking, and realized what had caught their attention. A bunch of bendy cutouts were on a balcony they hadn't noticed before, but what really caught their stares was a strange masked figure that seemed to have it's focus on Noel. Standing up, Noel walked a bit closer, the strange figure watching their every movement. Henry walked closer to the teen, and the stranger switched it's attention to him.

Staring, the two parties didn't say a world, Henry trying to remember why the masked figure felt so familiar, and Noel simply looking.

"Oh! You're the one, from earlier! Didn't you hear me?" He finally recalled, glaring as the stranger made no reaction as to having heard him.

"Maybe he's deaf? 'nd I certainly don't know ASL, so I can't try that." The teen said, glancing at Henry, then back at the stranger.

"I don't know it either. I guess we should go, maybe we'll find them elsewhere." He replied, walking towards the door. 

Following him, the duo walked back down the hallway to Sammy's office, Noel groaning when they saw the door was still blocked off. With the teen grumbling sourly, the two backtracked down the hall. Pausing before they passed the infirmary, Henry decided to look in, to see if anything had changed. Upon seeing the stairs and room had drained, he waved Noel over, before walking down. Flinching at the sound of another monster popping out, Henry quickly dispatched it before moving on. 

"No valve? Where did it go?" The teen questioned, eyeing the switch nearby where it should've been.

Pulling it, the two turned towards the source of a sudden gurgling noise, and watched the ink to another staircase drain away. Walking down, the teen decided to ignore the latest cut-out, and turned the corner. Scrunching their face at the wall writing, and terrible smell, Noel sat down to take off their boots while Henry splashed right on into the river of -presumably- ink. Tying the laces together, then stepping in, Noel peeked from behind Henry.

Behind a shoddily boarded up archway, was a monster. Unlike the others, this one didn't immediately attack them. It also was quite a bit larger, and had a hat on, oddly enough. Creeping closer, they saw it held-

"The valve! ...Oh."

The hat-wearing monster disappeared with a groan and a splash as the teen's voice echoed through the tunnel. Crawling between the boards, Noel ignored the sound of Henry chopping off them down, and gave chase down the tunnel. Pausing at yet another bit of wall writing, they squinted.

“The sheep will come to slaughter…. Don’t know what that means, but I’m not liking it.” Noel muttered, eying the strange writing cautiously as they started running again.

A piece of paper catching their attention, the teen stopped, and squatted down to look at it. 'Sheet music...?' They thought, picking up the sopping-wet paper. Looking right, Noel saw a little alcove, with a desk, more sheet music, and a tape. Walking in and putting their boots down on the chair, the teen eyed it for a moment. Picking it up, they took a moment to inspect it curiously, before they noticed the sound of splashing. Then Noel leaned out, and saw Henry quickly coming down the tunnel.

Ignoring the worried look on his face, the teen waved the tape, yelling a quiet "Hey, Mr., catch!" before tossing it at the man. While he fumbled with it, Noel continued searching the alcove. Scooping up the paper from the floor, the teen placed them on the desk, their ink-stained socks leaving footprints all over the wooden floorboards. Peering at the music sheets, they tried to make out the title, but it was too much of a mess. The click of the tape turning off caught the teen’s attention, and they saw Henry with a nostalgic smile on his face.

“Fain was always a light-hearted man.” He paused, the nostalgia fading away into sadness, “i haven’t heard from him since I left.” 

“Well, why don’t you call ‘im?” Noel replied, giving up on the ink-sodden papers and turning towards the man. 

“It’s been a solid thirty years,” The man sighed, “I doubt Fain would even want to talk with me, even if he never moved.”

“Oh. Yeah, that would put a damper on things. But you never know…” They trailed off, though Henry only looked away.

As the quiet washed over them, there was a silent agreement to continue on. Picking up their boots, Noel stuck by Henry as they walked through the sewer in silence. Turning a corner, the teen did a double-take at the cutout leaning against the wall. 

“Who even put that down here?” They grumbled, squinting suspiciously at it.

Staring at it a little longer, Noel suddenly smirked, and dipped a finger in the ink. After a moment or two, they turned back to Henry with a grin. As the teen caught up with him, the man chuckled at the mustache they had drawn on the cutout. Walking through the archway, both looked surprised.

“Who even put THIS down here?!”

**Author's Note:**

> Heya! A new story from me because I have 0 impulse control. None.  
> Tell me what you think of this chapter! Kinda cliffhangery, but it's not too bad. I'd still really love to hear from y'all though :)
> 
> My tumblr is @kindajustctoons If you wanna yell into my inbox-
> 
> Please do, it's got some really neat echos


End file.
